Preparing for your test

All new buildings in Ireland must undergo a blower-door test to measure their airtightness.

During a blower door test, the interior air pressure needed to be maintained in order to gather useful data is 50 pascals, which is roughly equal to the pressure created when a 20-mph wind hits the building. This test is used on buildings in order to quantify the amount of air leakage through its enclosure.

Make sure you are ready on the day of your test with this handy checklist.
Before the test, the following items must be checked for your airtightness tester:

• The client’s air permeability target

• The result required to comply with the relevant building regulations

• The building area and volume should have been correctly calculated from up to date drawings

• The weather forecast must be suitable — wind speed must not be above 6 metres per second (Beaufort scale 3 or less)

• The building should have power
  
  Make sure to carry out these steps on site before the test:

  1. External doors and windows must be closed (including for unheated spaces)

  2. Internal doors should be wedged open

  3. Chimneys must be sealed up

  4. Trickle or wall vents should be closed but not sealed

  5. Permanent open vents must be temporarily sealed

  6. Drainage traps should be filled with water, or otherwise blocked

  7. Heat recovery ventilation unit must be switched off, and the ducting sealed

  8. Heating systems must be turned off, and any external air inlets closed up

  9. Hatches to attics, basements or garages should be closed

  10. Keys should be in keyholes, and door handles should be fitted

  11. Any other conduits, ducts or hatches to unheated spaces must be closed

  These tips mainly relate to homes and small buildings, as airtightness testing of large buildings can be a more complex affair. There can also be different procedures to prepare a building depending on whether you are testing for building regulations compliance, or testing to the passive house standard. Make sure to check with your airtightness tester first.

  Overall, if you have designed and built with airtightness in mind from the outset, the day of your airtightness test need not cause too much stress. The test will go more smoothly and produce the most accurate result possible with just a little preparation.

  With our work on your property you can guarantee excellent test results!